Long lost defunct semi-professional RL clubs

[Marauder]

On 05/04/2021 at 10:27, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Which clubs would you like to see come back?

Which clubs could potentially comeback?

carlisle 

prescot 

blackpool

belle vue

chorley

Scarborough 

kent

nottingham

 

 

Bramley, led down the garden path by the RFL and dropped like a hot stone once the NCL moved to summer.

[Rach]

On 05/04/2021 at 11:27, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Me too as there isn’t a large well known settlement in Kent to name a team after with the largest settlements being gillingham(110k) and Maidstone(95k).

The more I think about it I’m drawn to the name of the Kent hurricanes although I’d much prefer the Kent spitfires.

Think you'll find the Spitfires nickname has already been taken up by the County Cricket Club ....

[ATLANTISMAN]

1 hour ago, Rach said:

Think you'll find the Spitfires nickname has already been taken up by the County Cricket Club ....

It is however its part of the sponsorship arrangements with Sheppard Neame.

 

 

[ATLANTISMAN]

On 06/05/2021 at 20:18, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Still very much the case, in the 21st Century just substitute Supporters Trust for Chairman.

I live in Kent and the County is a bit of a sporting wasteland, The only professional soccer club is Gillingham FC - One  of the London Broncos ground options and of course Kent County Cricket which used to have a lot of grounds dotted around the county but now centres itself on Canterbury (East Kent CCC). There is no Rugby Union club of any note in the County.

The lack of a rugby culture is a plus and a minus for any league side, but there are logistical drawbacks (i.e where to play. there are non-league soccer grounds and lower level union grounds that are BARLA standard. Then you have the problem of getting players of sufficient quality to move south. You would need a lot of money to set a club upand start junior development but also one of the key problems of being an outpost club is developing a rivalry,

Rivalries are the lifeblood of sport, and its difficult to build a rivalry with clubs located on the other side of the country, Skolars excepted though from the centre of Kent. Skolars is a good couple of hours away.

You also have to consider that the profile of Rugby League down here and outside the M62 is at its lowest ever point since Super League began. If the game was seen as a vibrant televised entity then you would see local clubs develop as was the case with American Football in the 1980's. But the only real interest comes from exiled northerners and transiting antipodeans doing the OE.

Pretty spot on TRR I am involved in non league football in Kent which is the strongest county in England for non league clubs + the North East (However they never take promotion) some of the local derbies at our level and the one above can get great crowds over the last 2 years (Pre lockdown)

Herne Bay v Whitstable Town 800

Canterbury City (FA Vase tie) 1800

Chatham Town v Sheppey United 900

And these are at levels well below National Conference and Step 4 clubs like Bromley/Dover/Margate/Folkestone/Tonbridge/Ebbsfleet/Welling/ etc  Tunbridge Wells who are in my clubs league took over 13000 to Wembley for the FA Vase Final a few years ago.

If anything Kent is a solid non league football county + Cricket (Sadly run by the East Kent mafia but dont get me started on that) 

 

P 

 

 

[steve oates]

On 07/05/2021 at 12:38, Hopping Mad said:

I'd say some sort of existing amateur RL activity would be useful, at the very least. It's why, I believe, there's a reasonable chance another semi-pro club could be developed in the North East region, mostly likely between Newcastle and York.

Sorry for a late reply, I don't get much time to come on here!

Your assertion shouts out "Middlesborough" to me. They however do have a sizeable Rugby Union club and I suspect all the schools play Union too.

It may be the case this gigantic barrier people don't take into account enough can only be breached by a very large amount of regular investment

 

[Hopping Mad]

6 hours ago, steve oates said:

Sorry for a late reply, I don't get much time to come on here!

Your assertion shouts out "Middlesborough" to me. They however do have a sizeable Rugby Union club and I suspect all the schools play Union too.

It may be the case this gigantic barrier people don't take into account enough can only be breached by a very large amount of regular investment

 

Are you thinking of Middlesbrough?

Pointless trying rugby league in the Boro. It's a one-sport town - football. Unless things have changed dramatically since I stopped working there in 1997, nobody gives a toss about the RU club.

Between Newcastle and York, I'd say Hartlepool - where league has a foothold already and football isn't the be all and end all - is a much better option.

[George1992]

For now i would like to see both Carlisle and Blackpool come back. As for Bramley they exist under the name Bramley Buffaloes with the junior section being simply known as Bramley. 

[The Frying Scotsman]

On 13/06/2021 at 00:44, George1992 said:

For now i would like to see both Carlisle and Blackpool come back. As for Bramley they exist under the name Bramley Buffaloes with the junior section being simply known as Bramley. 

is there anything to even remotely suggest that either of these clubs will somehow miraculously reappear?

Or is this just some sort of fantasy dream that you have decided to post?